Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-01-18
HOW GRANT PUNISHED THE
LIEUTENANT.

HOW GRANT PUNISHED THE
LIEUTENANT.
When General Gnni. IN August.
1861. va. seq, with brigade to South
ern Missouri TO repsl threatened lava
sion Of !, by jeff. Thompson. an Incident
occurred which !, thu, described by one
Of hi. .,Ah officers
The distance from the s,irilng polai
Of the expedition 10 the supposed rendst.
voas Of the Confedsraies was about 10
miles. and the greater portion Of the
route lay through bowling wilderness
The imaginary suffering ,ha, our soldiers
endured dufins the hri two days Of their
march was enormous. |, W. imPo.si-
be 10 steal OF oonhscA,e unealiisAied
real estate. and not hos. or ehieksn'
or an ear Of corn Was anywhere TO be
seen. Ca the third day. however. AZ
fairs looked more hopeful, f5f isw
small ,pccks of ground IN a state Of par.
,ial caliiysiioa were here and there Vi'l-
bic. Oa ,h., day Lieutenant wieshsli'
Of al Indiana cavalry regiment. eonmAn.
ded the advance guard. consisting OF
eight mounted men. Aboa, nooa be
came up 20 a small farm house. from The
Outward spPeHAnee Of which he judged
there Nigh, BE- something ~ 10 "a, ia
eide. tie halted hi command. dis
mounted. And. with two .seond lleaien'
ants entered the dwelling lie knew
that GRAFT bad already gone oai through
all that eoan,ry. and li ,eemrd 10 him
by representing himself TO he General
Grant. be nigh, obtain the best the
house afforded. 50 assuming a very
imperative dsmssnor he Aoco,led The in-
mate. OF the hoass and told them he
mus, have something for himself aud
staff 20 eat. They desired 10 know Who
he w... and be told them that be wn
Brisadisr General Grant. A, the sound
OF the name they all asw Aruand with
alarming AlAeriiy. And served up about
al they bad ia the house, taxing great
pain, al the while to make loud Proie'.
sion. Of loyalty Ths lieaienanis ale "
much a. they could Of the no; ovef-
SUMPTION. meal. but which WAS,
nevertheless. good for tia, eoaniry. and
demanded wha, was 10 pay. "Noihlns'
And they wen, on their way r,joieins.
In the meantime General Grant. Who
had halted bis army few miles further
back for brief resting spell. came IN
Sigh, Of. and WAS rather favo'ably i'm
pressed with the appearance Of this same
house. Riiing up 10 the fence IA float
Of the door. he desired TO know II they
would cook him a meal.
"No," said a woman. in a grua voice.
"General Gran, Ani hi. staff have jas,
been here Ani eaten everything in the
house sIceP, one pumpkin pie
"Humph." murmared Grant; What n
your name
"Selvidse." replied the woman.
Casting q kAlfdollsr In At the door,
he asked II ,he would keep ,ha, pie un-
Ill be cen, an officer for IL, 10 which she
replied that she would. That evening.
after the camping ground hAi been Sc.
lsc,ed. the various regiments were no,ihed
,ha, there would be . grand parade AZ
half.pa,i six, for orders. Ohicsr would
see thl, Ill their men turned ol,. In
five minutes the camp was in q perfect
uproar, and filed with all sorts Of iu.
mors Some though, the enemy were
upon them. 1t beingso unusual 10 have
parades when on = march.
At half.pa., .ix the parade was form.
ed, ten columns deep, aud nearly quar-.
ter Of a mile 10 length. Both officers
and men were amazed a, this unusual
parade after such long and weary
march, and wondered whA, !, poriended,
when the assistant Adjuiant general rode
in from, Of the lines. and. in a grave,
loud and clear voice. read the following
order:
Headquarters Army Ia the Field.
Special order Mo-.
Lieut.. wlckneld. OF the Indians cavalry,
having on this day eaten everything In
Mrs. selyidge's house, 81 the crossing OF
the Trenton and Pocshontas and Back
river and Cape Glrardeau roads, excep,
one pumpkin pie, Lieut.. wlcknsi 10 here
by ordered 70 return with an escort OF one
hundred cavalry and ca: that pie also.
u. s. GRANT.
Brigsdler General Comm indlng.
II /. impossible TO describe the effect
the reading OF this order hal on III,
troops. Every one was expecting 10 heat
some momentous announcement. and
hence, listened with eager attention, ant
when II va, flashed looked a, each 9th
er In utter bswildsrment and asked
wha, did !, mean' The parade wss.ov'
er, aud the moment they dispersed eaes
one .Ough, an explanation ofths s,rang'
affair Il soon leaked out. and by th'
time the eres,fsllsn lisu,enan,l was ready
with his escor, to leave camp. !, WAS in I
perfsc, upro.r. and psal.l % flaugh,sr fol-
lowed him ss he dstiled along the.roat
on his way back TO eat tba, pie.
Grant made no explanation ofhis con
duet. follo~ il by no reprimlnd. Th'
order carried its own lesson, administer.
ed It's own rebuks. and each one knew
that II would no, be . safe business Il
pass himself of for the general-in.ehief
much less forage in bis name fOr his owl
benefit When the lieateuAnt returnes
to camp. late in the evening. he was glat
to escape to his tent to avoid the mum
berIess questions and jokes about th'
pumpkin pie.
The tohoo osn Aide In Fond do Lac